Over the past 15 years, DNA vaccines have gone from a scientific curiosity to one of the most dynamic research field and may offer new alternatives for the control of parasitic diseases such as leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. We review here some of the advances and challenges for the development of DNA vaccines against these diseases. Many studies have validated the concept of using DNA vacci...

One-third of 5,792 fecal specimens from 2,896 patients in 48 states and the District of Columbia tested positive for intestinal parasites during the year 2000. Multiple infections with 2-4 parasitic species constituted 10% of 916 infected cases. Blastocystis hominis infected 662 patients (23% or 72% of the 916 cases). Its prevalence appears to be increasing in recent years. Eighteen other speci...

the parasite fauna of 50 specimens of spiny eel obtained from two lakes, zarivar (in kurdistan province) and parishan (in fars province) and one river, heleh (booshehr province) were examined during the year 2003. a total of nine parasite species were found. gills of spiny eel were infected with ichthyophthirius multifiliis , trichodina pediculus (protozoa) and mastacembelocleidus heteranchorus...

The role of protein kinases in organisms that diverged early in the eukaryotic lineage is relatively unexplored. In this study, we determined that primitive parasitic protozoa possess multiple protein-serine kinases and inferred the presence of protein-tyrosine kinases through sensitive immunoblotting techniques. To further explore the role of protein kinases in parasite development, we examine...

This is the introductory volume in an annual series on infectious disease and therapy, edited by Brian E. Scully and Harold C. Neu. This first volume addresses diseases caused by the parasitic organisms of major clinical importance in the United States, with an emphasis on infections in immunocompromised hosts. The book does not address the clinical aspects of parasitic infections seen in prima...

Estimates of the total number of species that inhabit the Earth have increased significantly since Linnaeus's initial catalog of 20,000 species. The best recent estimates suggest that there are approximately 6 million species. More emphasis has been placed on counts of free-living species than on parasitic species. We rectify this by quantifying the numbers and proportion of parasitic species. ...

The connection between our environment and parasitic diseases may not always be straightforward, but it exists nonetheless. This article highlights how climate as a component of our environment, or more specifically climate change, has the capability to drive parasitic disease incidence and prevalence worldwide. There are both direct and indirect implications of climate change on the scope and ...